Adventure Is A Verb

“Adventure is a passionate affair that requires great heart and immense faith, alongside preparation. Adventure is a map of joy.”- Terry Tempest Williams

I want to be more confident in my ability to adventure. Adventure as a verb and not just a place or a thing. I am always eager to jump on other people’s adventures, their hikes, their trips to go climb (provided it is not too far from my perceived ability), but I wish I was one of the strong women who never hesitated and just grabbed their gear and went encouraging others to join and leading them to new places.

I’ve done lots of trips alone. I have driven across the country, sleeping in my car outside of hotels to hike in Arches National Park in the rain, and tromped through cities like Boulder, Boise, Bend, Asheville, and Seattle.

I have done some solo adventures, in retrospect, that were not particularly smart. Like the time I strapped my new kayak on my car with only its’ foam support holders and watched one of the foam pieces fly off down the highway. I stopped, went back down the road to retrieve the piece, and drove slowly back to town. I decided to put my kayak in the Willamette, exploring a quiet inlet, without really considering how hard it was going to be to paddle back against the current. But I did it, and I survived, took the lessons from the trip into the future. Another time, in West Virginia, I went scrambling on rocks down by a river with my dog on a hike, and realized a bit too late, it was going to be quite precarious to get back. Millie and I made it, with me holding on to her in several sections in order to return to the trail safely.

I have camped alone near mountains and near the ocean. I have watched the stars from my tent in Central Oregon, feeling too enchanted to worry about the putting on the rain fly even if it meant waking up to frosted tent poles in the morning frost. That trip allowed me to glimpse Hosmer Lake at dawn, with fog lifting off the cold lake, as kayakers set off to paddle. It felt like a rare moment of quiet beauty, and it was only mine.

There’s always a fine line between safety, foolishness, and living fully. The quest is to figure out what that means for you in a life that makes you feel alive by living adventurously. I have been incredibly lucky to have the adventures I have shared with friends, zip lining in Costa Rica, exploring beaches in Greece, cycling and kayaking in Vietnam, swimming in mountain lakes in Canada, summiting mountains in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon.

Now I want to take the next confident steps. I want to learn how to navigate, teach others, and lead without trepidation. So, here’s what is coming up: I’m taking a Route Finding Class in February, leading my first Hike Like A Woman locals hike on February 3rd, and I will be volunteering at Climb School with the Chemeketans in April. It’s a start but everything begins with a few small steps and every leader has to start somewhere.

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2 Comments

Love this post! I’m just like you in that I will jump on anyone else’s adventure plans without hesitation, but I would love to be more confident in leading adventures on my own and traveling/camping on my own. When I do Kili in August I’ll be traveling there by myself and then doing the trek with a bunch of strangers, and I’m really excited to be giving myself that time to do it solo without any friends/my husband to lean back on!